Green Plus Red Equals Yellow?

Hi, everyone. I really hope you enjoy this oneshot. It was inspired partly by a really funny picture I found (link is at the bottom of the story) and partly by my friend and fellow author xwittychickx. Reviews would be great. I can't promise more of these, but if enough people like it, I'll probably post a few more as they come to me. They might not all feature these same characters. I might mix it up a bit. Also, if you like BillyxRebecca, I wrote a much longer story called Blind, Deaf, and Dumb that might interest you. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please enjoy!

Rebecca gritted her teeth against the searing pain eating its way through her right leg. She took another limping step, looking desperately around for any sign of her temporary partner, who seemed to have vanished into thin air. Exactly how a 6-foot, 165-pound man wearing a pair of broken handcuffs could disappear so entirely on a linear train was beyond her.

"Billy!" she yelled, breaking off to slump against the train wall, which rocked gently as she leaned against it. She stifled a groan of pain, clutching her wounded leg. Blood was soaking quickly through her green fatigue pants, forming the shape of a blossoming flower.

A sudden throb caused Rebecca to scream and lose her footing, sliding down the wall. She was prepared for the rough jolt of hitting the floor, but before it came, strong hands grabbed her underneath her arms and eased her down. She looked up into Billy Coen's dark eyes.

"What happened?" he asked, seriousness etched into his tone.

"I was investigating the crawlspace under the kitchen," she gasped. "There was one of those dog-things down there, and it bit me. I don't think I'm infected - I cleaned it out pretty good - but I need herbs to stop the bleeding. There were some growing in the conductor's cabin. Could you-"

"I'll be back in a minute," he said before she could even finish the question. He moved as if to stand up, but then paused for a moment and thrust his shotgun into her hands. "Keep yourself safe," he said, almost gently, and then he was gone before Rebecca could thank him.

She shook her head in confusion, her fingers tightening instinctively on the shotgun's trigger. The weapon was too big for someone her size - the reason that she had given it to Billy in the first place - but it would still kill any zombie that came along, certainly much more effectively than her standard-issue 9mm would have. It was pretty thoughtful of Billy to give it to her.

The man was an enigmatic puzzle that Rebecca couldn't solve. She felt as though she had most of the pieces within her grasp, but there was still some clue that eluded her. When she had first caught sight of him, beyond the killing end of the pistol he was pointing at her head, she had had no doubt that he was capable of the brutal murders that he had been convicted of.

But then, when he had faced down an unnamable menace in the dining room of the train, blowing away the leeches that covered her body with apparent ease, she'd had to wonder. It was only afterwards that she had noticed his hands shaking a little, as if he'd been under great strain to avoid shooting her during the rescue.

And now, the fact that he had gone back through the zombie-infested train with only his pistol and combat knife to find herbs so that she could fix up a wound that she got through negligence and lack of training - well, that said something about his character, didn't it. It said he was brave, reckless, and a man who, despite all else, would keep his word. He had said they were partners, at least until this all blew over, and apparently, he had meant it.

Heavy footsteps to her right made her jerk upright, spinning painfully to point the shotgun in the direction of the noise. A moment later, she lowered it with a sigh of relief. Billy had returned, far quicker than she had expected.

"Did you find the herbs?" she asked.

"Yeah," Billy said. He took his shotgun back and thrust something into her hand. Rebecca stared at it in disbelief. It was a crumbled little pile of leaves - exactly how mixed herbs ought to look.

Only there was a problem. Instead of the rich, dark, mahogany color that she was accustomed to, these herbs were the brilliant, shiny yellow of a rubber duck bath toy.

"Billy," she said quietly. "What is this?"

"Your herbs," he replied, giving her a look like he couldn't understand why she was asking.

"Did you mix them?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I didn't have enough space to carry both plants, so I thought I'd pull off some of the leaves and bring them back. They must have gotten squished together in my pocket somehow." After a moment, he added, "Is there a problem?"

"They're not supposed to look like this," Rebecca said flatly. "Why are they yellow? I can't eat this, Billy. I'd probably die."

Billy looked away and kind of grunted.

"How could you get this wrong?" Rebecca persisted, holding out the maligned herbs. "Everyone else I know can do it right, and they're not even medics. I mean-"

"Look." Billy's scowl had grown steadily deeper throughout her rant, and now he looked positively thunderous. "It doesn't matter how it happened. There are some more leaves on the damn plants. I'll just carry you down there and you can do it yourself. Okay?"

Rebecca agreed, and climbed awkwardly onto Billy's back. He locked his arms around her legs with a little more force than was necessary, and more or less stomped back down into the conductor's cabin. The young medic tried to hold back her giggling. This was definitely going to be a story to tell the others when she found them again. Billy Coen, the hardcore ex-Marine who could shoot and dodge like a pro and probably have any woman he wanted and - although Rebecca didn't know it yet - play the piano flawlessly, Billy Coen was incapable of something as simple as mixing herbs together. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Rebecca would never have stopped laughing.

Billy kicked open the door to the conductor's cabin and set her down next to the table that housed the herbs. Just as he had said, there were still some leaves left. Rebecca carefully picked just enough to make the anti-bleeding poultice and then held them up in front of Billy.

"Okay, watch carefully," she instructed. "After you see how I do it, I'm sure you won't have any problem." She pinched the leaves with her thumb and forefinger until they were slightly bruised, and then pressed them between her palms and rolled until she had a neat dark red pile. She put it in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. It tasted kind of sharp, like mint, with a sweet aftertaste. She could feel the healing juices flow through her veins, and the flow of blood from her wounded leg ceased. She slapped a bandage on just for good measure, and then turned expectantly to Billy.

"There, you see. It's easy. Now you try."

Billy snatched the remaining leaves from the small bushes. Frowning in concentration, he pinched them just as Rebecca had done. Then he pressed his hands together as if he was praying and began to roll the leaves. Rebecca watched like a hawk to make sure he didn't differ the procedure any.

A small noise over by the window made her glance away quickly in alarm, but there was nothing there. She looked back just as Billy finished and inspected his handiwork.

Simultaneously, they both groaned. The herbs were the same yellow color as before. They smelled a little funny too, like burning rubber.

"How do you do it, Billy Coen?" Rebecca burst out. "You're impossible! Even a five-year-old wouldn't have so much trouble with something so rudimentary."

"Shut the hell up!" Billy snapped. "There's nothing wrong with the way I mix herbs. They're just a different color, that's all. They taste perfectly fine!" And before she could stop him, he popped the herbs into his mouth and swallowed them.

An interesting expression passed over his face, and he made a rather strained sound. Then he jumped up, hurried over to the window, and stuck his head out into the rain. Rebecca could hear him breathing heavily for a few moments before the train took a sharp curve, and he promptly threw up. He sounded so miserable that Rebecca actually felt a little sorry for him.

"Okay," Billy gasped once his heaving fit was over, and he had brought his head back inside. His face was a color of green that Rebecca had never quite seen before. "I give. From now on, you can mix the herbs."

A/N - Am I the only one who wonders why Billy is the only character in RE history who is herbally challenged? What is wrong with the man? Oh, and here's the link below. Just remove all the spaces.

http: .com /albums /mm58 /luc-y-7 /?action=view¤t=1ce39f637e0755d6. png&newest=1